Monday, September 26, 2011

Pompei - City of Ruins

Lena & I started the morning traveling from the cruise ship via metro & train to Pompei. We didn't find a spot outside the port in Naples to purchase a metro ticket and ended up riding to the train station for free.  The train ride from Naples to Pompei took about 35 minutes and cost 2.80 euro each.  There were signs in the train station saying - be aware of pick-pockets -  so we were both on "red alert".  A neat little band boarded the train and played music for everyone in our compartment. It was fun and we arrived in Pompei without incident. 


Pompei was very interesting.  We walked the runis of the city destroyed when Mount Vesuveus errupted in 79 AD.  At the time Pompei was a middle class trading town with over 20,000 residents. We saw the runis of homes, a large forum, municipal buildings, two outdoor arenas and even a bakery. It was funny that the most crowded "attraction" in Pompei was the whorehouse... Crowds of tour groups gathered outside waiting to walk around inside.  

We returned to Naples via train and walked through the middle of town in search of an "authentic" pizzeria.  We found the pizzeria recommended by Rick Steves but when we arrived we saw the long line outside and changed direction. We found another pizzeria closer to the port and enjoyed a thin Naples pizza (proscuttio & cheese) with wine.    


Back at the ship we cleaned up and joined Walt, Tania, my Mom & Dad for dinner and drinks.  Walt & Tania celebrated their 52nd wedding anniversary and the wait staff sang them congratulations.  Our next stop is Santorini.  We have a full day at sea (Wednesday the 21st) before we arrive in Santorini.  The ship captain made an announcement today that there will be nine (9) cruise ships in Santorini.  There could be more than 20,000 people on the island tomorrow... it should be interesting ;)

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